The multilingual Lupita Nyong’o appeared on Plaza Sésamo, aka the Mexican version of Sesame Street, to teach and encourage us to laugh. It’s 17 seconds of awesomely joyous bliss and, man, if you need a pick-me-up, it really works! Now, let’s all laugh together: Uno…dos…trés…JAJAJAJAJA!

This story on Chirlane McCray, New York City’s amazing new Mayoral First Lady, had me in tears from the sheer INSPIRATION of it. An excerpt on feminism:

I don’t think it’s about “leaning in.” In this day and age, it comes down to improving life, for girls especially, young girls—improving the numbers of opportunities, the kind of opportunities.

McCray has much more to say about feminism and other topics, and the takeaway is that she has always gone her own way and been her own person—something we can all learn from.

But, of course, being your own person isn’t always easy. Not long after this profile was published, all sorts of New York publications started shaming her for “bad parenting” based on a quote that basically discussed that she could never be satisfied just being a mom, because she loves working, too. On Friday, McCray responded on her Tumblr with typical grace:

There are many different ways to be a good mother—so we choose the one that works best. And when we have moments of doubt, as we all inevitably do, it is healthy to share with others. No one should be belittled or criticized for that [...]We still have a lot of work to do, but we’re now one step closer to a future where women can speak honestly about their lives.

AMEN!

Stephanie

Memorial Day weekend is a perfect time for planning your summer reading, and Rookie’s own Anna F. has made it super easy for you. She put together this awesome list of the 40 best YA books for Rolling Stone. Diversity in YA has been a huge discussion lately, and this list really showcases all of the amazing voices out there. You’ll find some classics like The Outsiders and The Bell Jar on there, as well as big books you’ll recognize, like The Hunger Games, but Anna covers such a wide range of books that even people like me, who already read a ton of YA, will have a bunch of new books to discover.

StyleLikeU is one of my absolute favorite sites on the entire World Wide Internet Web. Many hours of my life have spent watching the closet interview videos with people whose styles couldn’t be more dissimilar, but the passion with which they put into their outward appearance is only matched by their inner glow.

That’s the premise of StyleLikeU’s new What’s Underneath Project: that style isn’t just the clothing that the world sees. It’s the way they wear their hair, how they present their gender, their mannerisms, the diction when they speak, the comfort they feel in their own bodies. These little intricacies, and more, are all of the things that left over when a person removes their daily armor. The amazing people in the video strip down to their underwear to reveal the essence of who they are. I love how you can feel their confidence exuding from their words even when they aren’t wearing any clothing. This video even features Rookie’s own Cindy Gallop! I wholeheartedly cannot wait to see the next of the videos in this series.

M.I.A.’s self-directed music video for the track “Double Bubble Trouble” just dropped this week. It’s taken a while for her to get it out into the world, following struggles with her label, who refused to release it, and then blocked it promptly after it was published. But now it’s here, unblocked and uncensored in all of its colorful, direct glory.

A “Drone Survival Guide” serves as the background for her backup dancers, and brown girls hide their faces behind burqas printed with the photo of a smiling white girl. From the peace drones and censored grills she had custom-made just for the video, M.I.A. is just as dedicated as she was before to remind us that the world is filled with a lot of turmoil, and governments across the globe aren’t giving their citizens voices.

Dylan

Call Your Girlfriend, a new podcast series that basically involves two bi-costal best friends—the very likable Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow—getting together and hanging out for 30 recorded minute is liquid friendship, and I am drinking it UP. Two reasons I love this: radio and podcast voices make me feel less alone in a super chill way, and almost every one of my best friends are long distance buddies…so there’s something about this podcast that kinda fills those needs for me, comin’ in through the earholes. It’s a lot of fun to listen to.

I feel for you, Miley. We both lost our very beloved pups in April, and you know what? It was really hard! This post at Science of Us reminded me that grieving over a lost pet friend is a good thing, even if it may be hard to understand for others. With all due respect, I understand why outsiders like my teachers and co-workers may have not understood why the week my dog died was so hard for me—for some, a pet just is a pet. But for me…and Miley…our pets were best buddies, and family. Reading this post reassured me that “disenfranchised grief” can be real and it is so totally OK to be sad while I deal with my little friend’s passing. If you’ve gone through the same loss, too, remember that! ♦

12 Comments

DBT was incredibly potent and powerful. M.I.A. has never stopped delivering quality even since she has gotten increasingly more popular amongst more mainstream audiences. So glad to see Rookie share this!

I found the article about racism and creativity really fascinating. I’ve lived in Australia for five years now, and I’ve found people here are often more complacent with racism in comparison to other places I’ve lived. My friend from England and I are too frequently disturbed and disgusted by the nature of racism here. When we see racism, we confront it, yet when we do, many protest that that’s just the way things are here. I like how this article ties racism to natural selection in regards to creativity and our ability to use tools for problem solving. We’ve risen because of our ability to be creative and use tools, and this article shows how the thinking which promotes racism is a detriment to our development. Racism is completely unnecessary.

Also, I am so into M.I.A.’s new video. It is awesome when someone with something interesting to say has the budget to make their message into a striking piece of art.

Hi, queen people! April’s theme is BOTH SIDES NOW, which considers the many different answers to THE BIG QUESTIONS, whatever those are for you. If you’ve got a project or pitch about seeing things in a whole new light, please email it to submission@rookiemag.com.

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Rookie is a website for teenage girls. With monthly-themed content, we update three times every weekday, and once a day on weekends. Click here to find out where to send stuff you'd like us to see. Learn about the people who write this thing here.